Have you considered in what ways you affect the environment around you or how you, your family, or our society might mitigate those effects?

Humans have a decided effect on the Earth's environment and can put in motion actions that positively or negatively affect it. Unintended negative consequences now include pollution, deforestation, global loss of habitat, climate change, depletion of the ozone layer, ocean acidification, the extinction of many species, toxic chemicals in rivers, lakes and in many of the fish we eat, and an alarming increase in the size of our deserts.

Many people today are looking more closely at the global issues we face and asking themselves: To what extent do humans need to coexist with or within nature in order to mitigate future threats to the  environment? This Discussion will focus on some of the environmental dilemmas and possible solutions that you find most compelling before taking a course on environmental science.

 To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review the readings, the Sierra Club Web site, the links posted by your professor, and conduct your own independent research. 
• Consider three of the environmental issues facing the world that you find most compelling or serious and how each one relates to your life.
• Reflect on how these dilemmas might be addressed, and what solutions you and other individuals can incorporate into our daily lives.

Explain in four or more paragraghs three environmental challenges that you examined and summarize how each connects to your life. Provide ideas for solutions that adapted more widely. You may also want to comment on solutions that you would advocate be adapted society wide. you can incorporate into your life and what impact your solutions would have on a national or global scale if they were adapted society-wide but which may not apply to individual households.  

 Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to this week's Learning Resources and scientific information sources. Every week you are expected to conduct independent research (beyond the course resources). Cite your research sources and include links whenever possible.

Read a selection of your colleagues' postings.